Faucet



(No Model.) J. S. LESTER.

FAUGET.

Patented J uiy. 2

Jag/77019531166322);

& w P m w S a a UNITED STATES PATENT' OF ICE.

JAMES S. LESTER, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

FAUCET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 542,201, dated. July 2,1895.

Application filed December 20, 1894. Serial No. 532,444- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES S. LESTER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Atlanta, in the county of Fulton and State of Georgia, haveinvented a newand useful Faucet, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to faucets for use in connection with water-servicepipes, sodawater fountains, &;c., and the objects in view are'to providea faucet which is adapted to close automatically by the pressure of thefluid in the pipe or vessel to which'it is connected; to provide meansfor insuring the a vertical central section of the same.

proper seating of the valve; to provide means whereby the surface of thevalve which is exposed to the pressure of the fluid is increased withoutincreasing the area of the valve; to provide means whereby the dust orgravel which passes tothe seat of the valve is ex posed to a flow of.liquid and is thereby displaced, and to provide means whereby the valveis cushioned as it closes to prevent jarring and rattling in theservice-pipe.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear in thefollowing description, and the novel features thereof will beparticularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective viewof'a faucet constructedin accordance with my invention, the same being applied to an ordinaryelbow coupling or joint. Fig. 2 is Fig. 3 is a vertical section on theline 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is avertical central section of aslightlymodified form of faucet attached to an ornamental elbow joint orcoupling.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawwas.

The shell 1 of the faucet comprises a lower tubular passage 2 and anupper enlarged chamber 3, the shoulder between said parts beingconstructed to form a downwardly-tapered or conical valveseat 4, aroundwhich, and resting upon the fiat portion 5 of the shoulder, is arrangeda washer 6 of rubber, leather, or other slightly-compressible material.The valve-head 7 is slightly convexed upon said under surface and isadapted to rest upon the upper surface of the washer, and is providedwith a central depending downwardly -tapered. or conical enlargement 8,which forms a centering-guide to adjust the valve-head as it descendsand cause it to approach its seat squarely. The valve-stem 9 dependsfrom the center of said conical enlargement or centering-guide and isloosely connected within the tubular passage to a transverse pin 10,which extends through and operates in vertical slots 11 in the sides ofthe shell, a collar 12 being fitted to slide exteriorly upon the reducedor lower portion of the shell and the extremities of said pin beingfitted in perforations in said collar and secured at one end by means ofa head 13 and at the other end by means of a nut 14:.

At the front of the shell is formed a boss 15, to which is fulcrumed abifurcated lever 16, having a finger-rest 17, the arms 18 formed by saidbifurcation being extended in opposite direction around the shell todiametrically opposite points, and being connected by means of links 19with the ends of the pin to which the valve-stem is attached. The collarcovers the slots in the sides of the shell, and the links which areinterposed between the lever and the pin allow said parts to movefreely, the former around its fulcrum as a center and the latter in theVertical guide-slots in which it is fitted.

interposed between the lower side of the valve-head and an interiorannular shoulder 20 in the shell, and coiled around the stem of thevalve, is a cushion-spring 21, the tension of which is sufficient toprevent jarring as the valve comes to its seat after the removal ofpressure upon the lever, but is insufficient to resist the pressure ofthe liquid upon the up per surface of the valve.

The upper surface of the valve head or disk is concaved to increase thevsurface for the pressure of the liquid without increasing thehorizontal area of the valve, thereby forming a cup 22, which performsthe additional function of catching impurities and sediment of a solidnature which may enter the faucet, and thus protects the valve-seat; andthe enlarged chamber in which the valve operates is bulged orconstructed in a partially spherical form, whereby the annular passagebetween the periphery of the valve and the interior surface of thechamber is enlarged as the valve ascends from its seat; but when thevalve is at the limit of its upward movement the area of l to an abruptshoulder36 on the shell, whereby the said annular passage is equal tothe crosssectional area of the lower portion or passage 2.

At the inner end of the finger-rest which forms a part of theoperating-lever of the valve is an upturned car 23, which, when thevalve is in its closed position, is approximately in contact with thesurface of the shell, and whenit is desired to hold the valve partiallyor wholly open to allow a continuous flow of liquid, as in filling abath-tub, or for any other analogous purpose, a small object 24, such asa toothpick, (shown in the drawings, Fig. 1,) should be inserted betweenthe ear and the contiguous portion of the shell. This interposed object2d should be tapered, as shown, in order that it may be inserted more orless tovary the extent of opening of the valve, and while I have shownand mentioned atooth-pick as a convenient object it will be understoodthat any other tapered pin or other article may be employed. It ismyobject to provide means whereby in special cases the valve may be heldwholly or partially open, and at the same time provide a constructionwhereby unless there is a special object in view and unless specialprovision is made, the valve will close automati cally and will be heldin its closed position by the pressure of the fiuidin the service-pipe.When the lever is released the valve closes, and if it .isdesired tohave a continuous flow a suitable object must be inserted between theupturned ear of the lever and the shell, and such object does not form-apart of the faucet, and hence it is the presumption that the valve willnot be locked in its open position, except when the object in view issufiiciently important to justify suchaction.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a. modified form of the faucet in which it isapplied to an ornamental elbow joint or coupling 25, which serves as asupport for a bucket, the shellbcing of substantially the sameconstruction as that above described, and the valve-seat, washer, andvalve being of similar arrangement, construction, and operation. Themeans for operating the valve diifer from that above described in thatthe operating-lever 26 is fulcrumed in a slot 27 in the side of thereduced portion of the shell and is provided with a flat arm 28, whichfits in a slot 29 in the lower end of the valve-stem 30. The upper edgeof said reduced arm is cut away to form an areshaped seat 31, whichbears against a convex shoulder at the upper end of said slot in thevalve-stem. The portion of the shell contiguous to the slot in which theoperatingdever is fulcrumed is enlarged to form a boss 32, the outerside of which is convexed concentric with the fulcrum-pin 33, and thelever is provided with a contiguous concaved shoulder 34, alsoconcentric with its fulcrum, which operates in contact with said convexsurface and thus forms a break-joint. An ear 35 is formed on the levercontiguous a tapered object may be inserted to hold the valve in itsopen position, as above described, in connection with the preferred formof faucet. The cushion-spring 37 corresponds in construction andfunction with that above explained.

From the above description it will be seen that the improved faucet isadapted to be closed and held in such position by the weight to relievethe shock or jarin the pipe when the valve closes, and in addition tothe above it should be understood that the object in forming a looseconnectionbetweeu the valve-stem jaud the lever, such looseconnection-providfing for a lateral vibration or movement of the lowerend of thestem-,'is to allow the valve to assumeau inclined'positionwhen a gravel or small hard object comes between thevalveseat and thevalve. This inclination of the valve relieves the foreign object from apor- 1 tion of the pressure which otherwise would i be brought to bearupon it, and thus provides 1 for the removal of the object by the forceof lthe liquid in the pipe. elbow joint or coupling. which is introducedinto the enlarged chamber of the faucet is i thickened, as shown at38,.whereby it lies-in the path of the valve-head to prevent .the valvefrom bei ng'thrown above the point neciessary to properly open thepassage.

construction is of especial advantage, inconnection with the form offaucet, which is shown .in Fig. 4, wherein no positive connectionbetween theoperatingdever and the valve-stem is provided. A furtheradvantage of this contraction of the throat of thejoint or coup- Theportion of the This ling resides in the fact that it condenses thestream of water or other liquid as it enters the chamber of the faucetand centers the same upon the concave or cup-shaped upper surface'of theValve-head, thus adding tothe efficiency of the liquid as a means ofclosing and maintaining in its closed position the valve.

It is obvious that in practice various changes in the form, proportion,and the minor details of construction may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of thisinvention.

Having described my invention, I claim- A faucet having a coupling, acasingsecured to the outlet end of the coupling and provided with avalve-seat arranged contiguous to the extremity of the coupling, a valvemounted to operate between the seat and the extremity of the couplingand of greater area than the outlet opening of the latter, the uppersurface of the valve being concaved, acushion spring opposed to themovement of the valve in approaching its seat and insuflicient instrength to resist the pressure of the fluid,

7 whereby the spring is compressed as'thevaive myown I have heretoaflixed my signature is returned to its seat, means for moving the inthe presence of two witnesses. valve from its seat against the pressureof the fluid, and loose connections between said JAMES S. LESTER. 5means and the valve-stem, substantially'as Witnesses:

specified. JOHN H. SIGGERS,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as G. C. SHOEMAKER.

